Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Untold Childhood Story of Pacman's Mom: Dionisia Dapidran-Pacquiao was born in Inopacan

by Edgie Polistico

This could be the only post where you can read the life story (semi-biography) of Dionisia Mejia Dipidran-Pacquiao. I wonder why until now Wikipedia and Wiki-Filipinas have no entry about her. I have hint the story in this blog will help answer that question.

DIONISIA
DECLARO DAPIDRAN (or DAPIGRAN) IS INOPACNON BUT HAS FORGOTTEN HER
ROOTS. I first learned that Dionisia Dapidran-Pacquiao is from Inopacan
when I met my cousin who happened to be in our hometown last year to
attend the town fiesta. Yes, I’m talking about Mommy Diony, the mother of multi-titlist boxing champion - Manny Pacquiao (a.k.a. Pacman). The topic about Dionisia as an Inopacnon was
brought up while we were having an account over the story on how the
old folks in our clan used to own the entire vast of land of what is now
the town proper of Inopacan. Well, it was a sad story talking about the
misfortune of our old folks and of a prodigal son. The land that was
once owned by a Polistico family was disposed of to finance the costly
penchant of a sabongero.

I verified with our relatives in town the information about Dionisia Dapidran and confirmed from a reliable source that Mommy Dionisia indeed came from Inopacan. Yes, she is an Inopacnon! She and her parents used to reside in Brgy. Esperanza, a barrio
along the northern coast of Inopacan. She was born on May 13, 1949. But
she declared in her application for late registration of her birth that
she was born on May 15 that coincides with the Inopacan Town Fiesta.

She then threw a remarkable big party in GenSan and dressed like a debutante
on her 60th birthday - with full media coverage.

Dionisia D. Paquiao's Live Birth Certificate

The record was checked
and found her Certificate of Live Birth under Registry No. 2008-205 of
the Civil Registrar's Office in Inopacan, Leyte. The registry document
bears her name and signature as the Informant to this record.

Dionisia's father was Florencio Declaro Dapidran (alias
Glo), a farmer from Baybay, Leyte, the town in the northern coastline
next to Inopacan. Her mother, Cristina Ocba Mejia, is a plain housewife
who is closely related to our clan. Dionisia's parents got married in
Inopacan on May 8, 1943. They are Filipinos and belong to the Roman
Catholic Church. Dionisia is the 3rd child of Cristina and Florencio who
were 28 and 32 years old then, respectively. Cristina, now very old and
wearing all-white hair, is living in Gen. Santos City with Dionisia.

The record of Dionisia D. Paquiao from the Office of the Civil Registrar

There
is an issue to the real family name of Dionisia's father on whether it
is DAPIDRAN or DAPIGRAN. But data found in the computer system of the
Municipal Civil Registrar's office in Inopacan shows that what is
recorded in the registry is Dapidran, not Dapigran. Dionisia also used
Dapidran as her family name when she accomplished the application for
the Late Registration of her Certifcate of Live Birth that was received
by the Municipal Civil Registrar on April 23, 2008.

It
was recalled that Dionisia and her parents disappeared one day in Bo.
Esperanza when she was a 9-year old girl. It was told that they
disappeared after her father allegedly stabbed to death Jose Polistico,
the younger brother of Kulo Polistico. Afraid of Kulo's reprisal, who
was then known as the tough guy in their village, the Dapidran’s escaped
hurriedly to Dadiangas (now Gen. Santos City) and hid there over
those long years to avoid the rage of Kulo and to evade arrest from the
authorities. It was told that the motive of killing Jose Polistico was
due to lost of temper over an old grudge and for harboring ill feelings
against their relatives in the village who downgraded them being that
they were very poor. Florencio, who according to some, was actually a
meek person who eventually ran out of patience over unfavorable
treatments and insults that he and his family had from the people around
them. Thus, it was the last straw when Florencio and Jose Polistico
engage in a heated argument. Florencio drew a knife and stabbed Jose to
death. People in Inopacan are now wondering if Dionisia is also
harboring the same feelings or guilt to the point of forgetting her
roots in Inopacan.After many years of hiding in Mindanao,
Florencio, who was already old and sickly, went back to Baybay, Leyte
and lived there shortly with his relatives. Eventually, he died in
Baybay due to sickness.

I
tried tracing the court records of the alleged murder case involving
Dionisia’s father against a member of our clan. However, no such record
was found. It was gathered later in our verification that the case was
not actually brought to court because the suspect remained at large. It
was necessary to bring the person of the suspect to court for the case
of murder to prosper. But since Dionisia's father went into hiding,
evaded arrest, and was not found, no criminal case had ever reached the
court against him. No court case means no court record. Meanwhile, the
police record is no longer in the municipal archive. It was thought that
the records were destroyed presumably by the floods that deluged the Poblacion (town
proper) many years ago. However, someone tipped off the information
that Atty Hugo Kudera, a practicing lawyer in town, is the one who
handled the case of murder against Florencio D. Dapidran.Some
said that when Dionisia’s father got old, he went back to Leyte and had
an amicable settlement with the aggrieved family. Everything went into
order and the case of murder was set aside and eventually forgotten.

I
was also told that when Dionisia wanted to go to the US to attend the
fight of her son, Manny Pacquiao, she obliged herself to go to the Civil
Registrar's office in Inopacan to get her birth certificate. She did
not stay long in the vicinity of the Municipal Hall and was not seen by
many. She remained in the service car till they left the town probably
to avoid from being identified and be mobbed by her supposed fans and
kibitzers. Anyway, she was not in town to reintroduce herself as Inopacnon. She was in Inopacan merely to get her birth certificate that was required in processing her passport and visa.However,
informant from the Inopacan municipal office disclosed that Dionisia's
application for late registration of her birth was done inter-office
between the Civil Registrar's office in Gen. Santos City and the Civil
Registrar's office in Inopacan, Leyte. Whatever
and where ever she was when the paper was processed, what is certainly
clear is that Dionisia was born in Inopacan, Leyte. She indeed is an
Inopacnon.In 2008, when we saw
her on TV that she finally was in Nevada (with media frenzy featuring
her arrival in Las Vegas for the Pacquiao-Dela Hoya fight), it was then
the first time that she traveled to the US using her birth papers that
was processed and issued in Inopacan.Some
said that Manny Pacquiao inherited from his grandfather the trait of
being a fearless fighter who may has the tendency to kill an opponent -
the killer instinct, though. At least for Manny the trait was not taken
literally as what he had shown in his famed fights in the ring in 2008.
We saw him extending his hands to help his opponent, the fallen and
blooded David Diaz. Manny pulled the right arm of Diaz to help him rise
from the canvass after knocking him out. He is a professional and kind
fighter for me after all.

Some said that Dionisia has already renounced impliedly her being Inopacnon. I was told that “Wa
na nâ moila og Inopacan. Wa na gani na sija mokuan sa ijang mga
paryente dinhi moila. Taga-Esperansa man na sija. Mejia man ang inahan
ana. Naa man nang igsoon (sa nanay) sa Esparanza.” (She does not
recognize Inopacan anymore. She even forgot that she has relatives in
Esperanza. She is from Esperanza. Her mother was of Mejia (clan) whose
siblings are in Esperanza.) Some people noted that Dionisia even
introduced herself as coming from Tacloban City or from Baybay, Leyte
instead of Inopacan. However, we could not fully substantiate this
information by now, until we have reviewed the video clips or voice
clips of the interview. If this is true, we cannot blame her for not
recognizing Inopacan as her place of origin for she spent most of her
life away from Inopacan, unless she was really that ashamed or felt it
too bad to admit that she is from Inopacan. Hence, we challenge Dionisia
Paquiao and our clan members in Esperanza to comment on this. Of
course, we need to hear the other side of the story.

Dionisia D. Paquiao's Voter Certification from the COMELEC

It is
interesting to know that when she registered herself at the COMELEC
office in Gen. Santos City on Dec. 13, 2000, she declared that her birth
place is Inopacan, Leyte as shown by the COMELEC's VRR No. 530305002397
under Precinct No 0243-B of Purok Acharon, Brgy. Labangal, Gen. Santos
City. She also used the name Dionisia Dapidran (not Dapigran) Paquiao.When
Dionisia said that when her son Manny got rich and famous many claimed
to be their relatives, do not include us for sure. There is no need to
claim it when the fact is that she is one of us. It could be she who
simply forgot her roots, probably due to a traumatic reason or ill
feelings in the past. This is written with no malice and hurt feelings
over the loss of our clan member. This may conflict with my personal
admiration to Manny Pacquiao. But for sure, I would still and continue
to recognize him as one of us, in blood and as a son of an Inopacnon.
I don't shy telling around that I’m very proud of him being one of the
best in the world. I will also keep on telling that he is the son of an Inopacnon, even if his mother has already forgotten their roots, however true is that.(Those who know better than my informants and me about the Pacquiao family as Inopacnon, come forward and share your story.)

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Author of Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. A lexicographer since the age of 14. Filipino Linguist. Blogger with 11 blog sites. Researcher of food culture, pop culture, places, structures, transportations, churches and whatever interest him about the Philippines. Visual artist. Photographer. Traveler who had been to all four corners of the Philippine archipelago, and still setting more footprints.

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